The present invention relates to specific salts of amphoteric surfactants and carboxy fatty compounds. The compounds have unique properties including high foam, detergency and most importantly low irritation to the eye and skin. This makes the compounds of the present invention particularly well suited for personal care applications. Additionally, the compounds of the present invention are useful in industrial applications where detergency and substantivity are required. One particular application is in metal cleaning and corrosion inhibition. The compounds of the present invention provide both detergency and corrosion inhibition when applied to metal surfaces.
Amphoteric surfactants have been known for many years. The amphoteric compounds useful in the preparation of the compounds of the present invention are amino propronates. U.S. Pat. No. 3,417,136 to Hovoden describes the basic technology used to make amphoteric surfactants of the class which is useful for the preparation of the complexes of the present invention.
Silicone carboxy complexes are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,739,371 issued April 1998 to O'Lenick, incorporated herein by reference. That specific patent disclosed that silicone polymers were needed to observe the beneficial effects observed. We have now surprisingly observed that the same effect is obtained using fatty alcohol carboxylates in place of silicone carboxylates. This has very far reaching impact upon cost and formulation latitude in personal care products.